Advanced Construction Using Precision Adjustment, Joining and Strengthening Techniques

ABSTRACT

An improved building technique includes setting at least one wall for a building into a final position, and then subsequently match-casting a foundation or floor for the building, the foundation/floor being in contact with the base of the wall and helping to secure the wall.

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/295,167 to John HANBACK entitled “ADVANCED CONSTRUCTION USING PRECISION ADJUSTMENT, JOINING AND STRENGTHENING TECHNIQUES” and filed on Jan. 15, 2010, the content of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

I. Field

This disclosure relates to advanced construction techniques.

II. Background

Basically, the art of construction has varied little since the Roman times, where buildings were constructed by placing bricks upon bricks using some form of mortar to join and hold the bricks together, and by casting concrete structures on a building sight. Some of the few innovations include the development of modular housing, and the creation of double-wide trailers.

While there has been some real innovation with a number of “modern” building techniques, such as those that were used to construct the world trade towers, the art of construction is rife with stagnation. Architects, structural engineers and construction companies are loathe to innovation in order to minimize risks and cost overruns. While constant improvement has been made incrementally with respect to items such as cheaper building materials, e.g., particle board, better insulation and so on, the art of construction has natural barriers to inventiveness when it comes to new paradigms of construction.

SUMMARY

Various aspects and embodiments of the invention are described in further detail below. In an embodiment, an improved building technique includes setting at least one wall (or portion of a wall) for a building to a final position, and then subsequently match-casting a foundation and/or a floor for the building, the foundation/floor being in contact with the base of the wall and operable to secure the position of the wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and nature of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which reference characters identify corresponding items.

FIG. 1 depicts various components of a building to be assembled.

FIG. 2 depicts details of a floor plate leveling device, and details of a wall in context with the floor plate.

FIG. 3 depicts details of wall structures including an internal concrete pour that includes a number of columns linked together with a beam.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an exemplary first type of wall.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an exemplary first type of wall.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of an exemplary sloping roof.

FIG. 6B is a side view of the exemplary sloping roof of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart outlining a number of operations for constructing structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed methods and systems below may be described generally, as well as in terms of specific examples and/or specific embodiments. For instances where references are made to detailed examples and/or embodiments, it should be appreciated that any of the underlying principals described are not to be limited to a single embodiment, but may be expanded for use with any of the other methods and systems described herein as will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art unless otherwise stated specifically.

For the purpose of clarity, the following definitions are provided:

Member: (noun): a structure that may be made of concrete, steel or any combination of materials useful in the construction arts that is formed prior to integration into a building. For example: a concrete T-shaped beam formed at a molding plant, then transported to be integrated into a bridge may be referred to as a structural “member”.

Pour (noun): a structure formed in-situ by pouring concrete or other similar material (e.g., a geopolymer) into a retaining area (e.g., between two stay-in-place forms) and later allowed to harden into a solid structure. For example: concrete placed into an area defining a floor of a building at the exact building location may be considered a floor “pour”.

FIG. 1 depicts various components of a building 100 to be assembled. As shown in FIG. 1, the components include a floor plate 110, a first-story wall structure 130, a portion of a second-story wall structure 140 and a ceiling structure 150 that includes a first ceiling structure 150-1 and a second ceiling wall structure 150-2. Each of the first ceiling structure 150-1 and the second ceiling wall structure 150-2 include stiffening members 154 having access holes 156, and the second ceiling wall structure 150-2 has an access plate 152 embedded within it such that a person or device on an upper story may gain ready access to the space immediately below.

FIG. 2 depicts details of a floor plate leveling device for the floor plate 110 of FIG. 1, and details of the wall 130 in context with the floor plate 110. As shown in FIG. 2, the leveling device includes an adjustment screw 204 embedded within the floor plate 110 extending downward to a ball-and-socket joint, which in turn secures a footing plate 202. The floor plate 110 may include optional holes 112 in order to make reduce weight. The floor plate 110 may also include locator buttons 208 to help properly align wall 130, as well as metal prongs 206 useable to secure wall 130 to the floor plate 110.

Wall 130 has four major components including an inner wall 238, a chamber 236, an internal wall 234, an insulation barrier 232, and an outer façade wall 230. The outer façade wall 230 and insulation barrier 232 can be secured to the inner wall using anchors 240 and guides 242. Complementary locator contours 208-2 may be formed to help align the wall 130 to floor plate 110.

Jumping to FIG. 7, a flowchart outlining a number of operations usable to assemble the components depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 is provided. The process starts in step S100 where various components (e.g., floor plates, various walls for various stories of a building, ceiling (a.k.a. upper floor) structures may be cast. Such components may be cast in a special facility to enable the appropriate humidity and heat profiles over time in a curing process usable to create high strength concrete well beyond the 6,000-10,000 PSI concrete that is typically created without such processing. Further assembly, e.g., the addition of the floor leveling devices and addition of insulation barriers and facades may also occur. Control continues to step S102.

In step S102, a construction site may be appropriately prepared, which may involve the formation of various footer trenches, the addition of base materials, e.g., fine gravel or sand, and the leveling of such materials in the footer trenches. Next, in step S104, various base plates may be appropriately placed on the prepared construction site. The number and placement of such floor plate may vary from building to building and given the (x, y) dimensions of the floor plates. For example, should the floor plates be 8 feet by 20 feet, and a 40 foot by 40 foot building be desired, a 5-by-2 array floor plates may be used noting that such floor plates may abut one another. Control continues to step S106.

In step S106, various leveling devices located at each end (or corner) of each floor plate may be appropriately adjusted so as to adjust each individual floor plate to be level as well as to level the overall floor of the desired building. Next, in step S108, a footer pour may be cast/poured so as to lock the pre-cast floor plates in place and together noting that, depending on the particular geometries involved, large holes in the pre-cast floor plates may be used to allow rebar and the locking concrete to pass across certain portions. Control continues to step S110.

In step S110, a number of pre-cast wall segments/members may be placed over the floor plates, and ceiling plates may be added as well so as to construct one or more stories of the building. The wall segments/members may be aligned to the floor plates using the locator buttons seen in FIG. 2. Once the other members are placed over the floor plates, concrete may then be poured (step S112) to form a system of rigid columns within the walls, and should the wall members be appropriately designed, internal beams may be formed in the same pour. Such a system of columns and connecting beam may be seen in FIG. 3, where the design of the inner wall chamber 236 (see left-hand and top (plan) drawings, may give rise to a single structure having beam 138 connecting columns 236-1 to 236-4. Note that for present embodiment, column chambers 304 may be lined with an expansion layer to allow for thermal expansion and contraction.

Jumping to FIG. 4, a plan view of an “outside” wall structure is shown, and FIG. 5 shows an interior wall structure. Again, note the placement of a liner to allow for thermal expansion for both structures.

FIG. 6A is a plan view of an exemplary sloping roof. FIG. 6B is a side view of the exemplary sloping roof of FIG. 6A. As seen in FIG. 6B the roof includes a lower member 612 and an upper member 610 connected by a series of separating members 616. An insulative material may be place in chambers 620, and insulation pads 622 used with the separating members 616 to minimize heat transfer. Atop the upper member 610 may lie a patterned member 630 having a sawtooth look. The sawtooth pattern in useful in that shingles having a uniform thickness (as opposed to a tapered thickness) may be used. Generally, such tiles may be places atop the patterned member 630 an affixed using screws, adhesive, locking pins, or any other known or later developed manner.

What has been described above includes examples of one or more embodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the aforementioned embodiments, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of various embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the described embodiments are intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. 

1. A improved building technique, comprising: setting at least one pre-cast wall or pre-cast wall-segment for a building to a final position; and then subsequently match-casting a foundation/floor pour for the building to the wall/wall segment, the foundation/floor pour being in contact with the base of the wall/wall segment providing structural bearing and operable to secure the position of the wall.
 2. The improved building technique of claim 1, further comprising adjusting at least one of a vertical trim (plumb) of the wall, adjusting the position of the wall relative to a distant point, and securing the wall/wall segment to another structure before casting the foundation for the building.
 3. The improved building technique of claim 2, wherein adjusting at least one of a vertical trim of the wall, adjusting the position of the wall relative to a distant point, and securing the wall to another structure uses laser alignment and/or distance measuring techniques.
 4. The improved building technique of claim 2, wherein adjusting at least one of a vertical trim of the wall, adjusting the position of the wall relative to a distant point and securing the wall to another structure is accomplished by turning at least one threaded adjustment screw.
 5. The improved building technique of claim 4, wherein adjusting at least one of a vertical trim of the wall, adjusting the position of the wall relative to a distant point and securing the wall to another structure is accomplished by turning multiple threaded adjustment screws.
 6. The improved building technique of claim 1, wherein the step of casting includes pouring concrete so as to lock at least one adjustment means in place and/or lock the wall/wall segment in place.
 7. The improved building technique of claim 1, wherein the wall/wall segment includes a stay-in-place form (SIPF) that includes a first wall and a second wall separated by an internal space.
 8. The improved building technique of claim 1, further comprising: setting one or more pre-cast footing segments; wherein the pre-cast wall or pre-cast wall-segment for the building is set over the pre-cast footing-segments.
 9. The improved building technique of claim 8, further comprising: casting a footing pour so as to lock the pre-cast footing segments together before setting the pre-cast wall or pre-cast wall-segment.
 10. The improved building technique of claim 9, wherein the pre-cast wall or pre-cast wall-segment includes an integral sealing means so as to enable the pre-cast wall or pre-cast wall-segment to form an air-tight and/or liquid-tight seal with another wall or wall-segment.
 11. The improved building technique of claim 10, wherein the pre-cast wall or pre-cast wall-segment includes an integral contour operable to hold a cable.
 12. The improved building technique of claim 9, wherein the footing member includes a first rail member, a second rail member, and a plurality of blocks between the first and second rail members.
 13. The improved building technique of claim 12, wherein the footing member further includes an adjustment plate incorporated into each block between the first and second rail members.
 14. The improved building technique of claim 12, wherein each adjustment plate incorporates at least one horizontal adjustment device and/or at least a portion of a trimming/plumbing device.
 15. A structure constructed using any combination of the steps described in claims 1-14.
 16. A fluid storage tank constructed using any combination of the steps described in claims 1-14. 